new rig.

[redneck23ms]

this isn't really a build thread as its already built. but i went about 650 miles each way this weekend and picked up a new to me rig. sami based buggy.

specs are:
somewhat of a 87 samurai frame and body
4.3 chevy v6
4l60e auto
toyota t-case with 4.7 gears
yota axles with longfields and chromos. 5.29s and arb's front and rear. drive flanges, 6-shooter knuckles
104" wheelbase
3 link front with 14" air shocks
4 link rear with 16" air shocks
trail gear full hydro
trail gear winch with synthetic line
rear driveshaft disconnect
fuel cell
37" krawler stickies
trail gear beadlocks
and probably some other stuff that i can't remember.
i'm stoked and ready to try it out other that the few minutes that i tested it out yesterday.





http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/IMG_10161_zpsjtu448ir.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/IMG_10161_zpsjtu448ir.jpg.html)
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/IMG_10171_zpsyndhfheh.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/IMG_10171_zpsyndhfheh.jpg.html)

[Jim]

COOL!!!

What obstacle is tops on your list?

650 miles - which direction?

[redneck23ms]

west. cedar city utah. no obstacle individually is tops. aaron, mike and i are planning a trip to run billings/21 rd in grand junction next month. gotta do carnage sooner or later. and indy etc down in penrose. pretty much all of the harder trails are my target. planning a trip to smorr in missouri with some friends from ms the spring.

[Jim]

It'd be fun to watch some time - though I'm not in the buggy class / capability.

[Java]

That's pretty cool! I like how low it is on 37s and the unlimited approach / departure angles. :thumb:

[Brucker]

WooHoo! Good to hear you made it back safely! And congrats on the new to you rig!

[Brian]

Sweet looking rig, congrats! :thumb:

[dieseldoc]

you want to Cedar city....
Did you take it out to the rock slabs where they do the competition?

Sami base....they are tight space wise but light and small.
They get into some nice places.
Sounds like it has all the right parts.

That 4.3l swap is a very tight fit.
But the power to weight ratio is way worth it.

[redneck23ms]

nah i didn't get to take it out anywhere yet. after buying it we had a short window to meet one of erins friends that was in vegas at the time. so we met her halfway in mesquite NV. that was a mistake as it was 114 degrees down there lolplus it added and extra 4+ hours to the trip.

thanks guys. i plan on having alot of fun with it. now somebdy buy my jeep so i can afford to go wheeling again lol.

[EKXJ87]

Congrats Alex Very Cool Rig! Looks like it's set up very well, What are "rear drive shaft disconnects"?

[redneck23ms]

Toyota t-case don't have the ability to run just the front output. So somebody came up with a system to disengage the rear driveshaft outside of the t-case. It's basically it's a rear output yoke with 2 gears and a shift collar. That way you can shift it to disengaged and do front digs etc.

[Cr33p3r]

Cool lil rig

[DETN8R]

Nice Buggy! Cool to see another Sami on here. Even if it's hardly sami anymore..

[redneck23ms]

thanks

[redneck23ms]

the new rig worked great this weekend. ran holy cross saturday and walked everything including cleveland rock. then went to moody hill today and played in the quarry. and made everything i tried except one climb where the front got a little too light for comfort and had to reverse out of it. overall i am very pleased with the new rig. needs a few things such as wrapping the exhaust as i right foot gets pretty warm. and going to add a trans cooler. and may add a sway bar to the rear to get a little less body roll out of it. and a few other little things as well.
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/th_DSC_0524_zps3pwvarus.mp4 (http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/DSC_0524_zps3pwvarus.mp4)
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/DSC_0566_zpslgrt0dfj.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/DSC_0566_zpslgrt0dfj.jpg.html)


http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/DSC_0567_zpsazgquouo.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/DSC_0567_zpsazgquouo.jpg.html)
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/DSC_0568_zpstnixpzew.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/DSC_0568_zpstnixpzew.jpg.html)


http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/DSC_0513_zps62gzwzvh.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/DSC_0513_zps62gzwzvh.jpg.html)

[Jim]

Hey Alex, I had fun and changed your avatar - don't keep it / change it back if you wish.

What tire pressure are you running? I'm looking at the right rear in the pic right above this post - it doesn't look too mushed.

[newracer]

It is probably so light that even at very low pressure the tires won't flex much.

[redneck23ms]

I had the fronts at around 4psi and the rears around 3psi Saturday morning.

[Jim]

Amazing!

[EKXJ87]

Glad to hear its working well, The new rig is looking good Alex!

[Brucker]

Good to hear it's working well for you Alex! Sorry I couldn't make it out this weekend. My truck is still in need of repair.

[redneck23ms]

No worries Aaron. Just let me know when you want to get out again.

[dieseldoc]

looks good alex!
I love the approch and departure angle on it.

the rear drive line disconect has been around for a few years now.
check out LOWRANGOFFROAD they have a ton of sami and toy parts.

as for tire pressures I was able to pull the valve core out and run all day on the swappers that came on mine. the maxxis tires were happy at 4psi fpr a 37x12.50

for the exhoust did the P.O. use a right side manifold for the left side?
the drivers side is way close to the fire wall thus your hot foot issue
if you use a right side you can run the exhoust around the front and come back in with the passenger side!
its a bit of exhoust work but works very nice and keeps the cab temp much cooler.

did you try sucking the front end down?
It looks like its set up for it

[redneck23ms]

both manifolds are on the normal way. there is no room on the passenger side for the exhaust as the t-case is in the way. the drivers and passenger pipes Y together under the gas pedal and then it goes back under the drivers side. hopefully wrapping them will help a little. its not unbearable but the right foot definitely gets toasty.
the guy i bought it from said he normally ran them at 2 psi. that would be fine for slow crawling but i will likely run them around 5-6 psi as i didn't like how much the tires pinched down when hitting rocks at speed.
yeah i had the front end sucked down on the really steep stuff. that is another tweak i will make is how the rope attaches to the front axle. right now its a pain to get the end of the rope off/on the axle. but thats a simple fix.

[dieseldoc]

Call ZOR zuks off road talk to myron, he may have a solution to the exhoust issue other than wraping, he is way cool and supper knolagable about the zuki and all the stuff we do to them.

nice to see you got what you were looking for!

[redneck23ms]

worked on the rig and tow rig this weekend.
got the front part of the exhaust wrapped. was only able to get from the manifolds down to the Y-pipe. Ther rest is blocked by the skid plate and i didn't feel like dropping it as the trans mount is on it as well as the pillow block for the front driveshaft.
then i installed a transmission cooler. went pretty easy just had to weld a piece of flat bar to the tube for a mount. i will probably add a fan later but i already had the cooler.
Then i added a ring to the front axle for the winch rope. before the rope was just wrapper around the ram mount and hooked to itself. this was a pain if you needed to unhook it to use the winch for winching other than as a suck-down. its made from an old tow hook i found at work.
then i played with the nitrogen pressure in the front shocks. after 3-4 adjustments i have it pretty close to where i want it. may drop it down just a little bit more.
going to install a battery disconnect swith this afternoon.
i also worked on the tow rig. installed a set of gauges in it. it was pretty straight forward. getting the inner fender off sucks. had to remove it to get to the exhaust manifold to drill it for a pyrometer. once i was all done with the install i fired it up and as my luck would have it the boost gauge doesn't work so now i'll have to deal with returning it for another.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/IMG_10491_zpsl9b0d7ad.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/IMG_10491_zpsl9b0d7ad.jpg.html)
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/IMG_10501_zpskmzklzxi.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/IMG_10501_zpskmzklzxi.jpg.html)
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/IMG_10521_zpslh4hjjwj.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/IMG_10521_zpslh4hjjwj.jpg.html)
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/IMG_10541_zpsyuencskr.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/IMG_10541_zpsyuencskr.jpg.html)
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/IMG_10531_zpsk7gclj4g.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/IMG_10531_zpsk7gclj4g.jpg.html)

[dieseldoc]

Nice work Alex.
Glad you got something like you wanted.
Seems it was built well.

[Brucker]

Looking good!

[redneck23ms]

turns out the boost gauge does work. just didn't have enough of a load on it in the driveway to build boost. also got the battery disconnect installed.

[dieseldoc]

Sweet!

[redneck23ms]

been having fun with the new rig but did bust a rear shaft a while back which in turn took out the rear arb.
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/IMG_10811_zpskll7o9wo.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/IMG_10811_zpskll7o9wo.jpg.html)
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/IMG_10821_zpsr7ihgoje.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/IMG_10821_zpsr7ihgoje.jpg.html)


then this weekend this happened
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/IMG_11971_zpsfnjlmhzn.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/IMG_11971_zpsfnjlmhzn.jpg.html)
also built an oil pan skid.
before.
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/IMG_11231_zpsvk1fgc5q.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/IMG_11231_zpsvk1fgc5q.jpg.html)
after
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/IMG_11251_zpswb6pff3s.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/IMG_11251_zpswb6pff3s.jpg.html)
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l539/redneck23ms1/IMG_11241_zpsqq757yll.jpg (http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/redneck23ms1/media/IMG_11241_zpsqq757yll.jpg.html)

[dieseldoc]

Nice.

So the rear is getting abused nicely 😈

[EKXJ87]

So has your driving style changed with the new rig or are you taking on the "tougher" trails? Also now that's you've seen the harder trails how would you think the old rig would do on them?

[redneck23ms]

i wouldn't say that my driving style has changed but i definitely try harder lines now even when theres easier ways to go. the jeep would probably get through the harder trails but there would definitely be a fair amount of winching. take carnage for example. the jeep could probably drive all of it except the waterfall/v-notch area and the exit. would definitely have to winch there. holy cross, the jeep did everything but cleveland rock granted it was wet, but was also a little wet when i ran it in the buggy. 21 rd the jeep could have probably made it through the whole trail but i wouldn't have tried all of the hard lines that i did. overall i'm happy with the buggy. a couple breakages that could have been avoided or just inferior parts. still having fun with it. ordered new gears for it today.

[EKXJ87]

Glad to hear you putting the new rig to good use! Once you get it dialed in you'll have a stout rig and its a lot quicker build than the Jeep was. One day I'll get around to checking it out.